Rationalism
Human Beings are fundamentally rational and most human behaviour is the result of free will and rational choice
Hedonism
Pain and pleasure are the central determinants of human behaviour
Punishment
Is required to deter law violators. the punishment should fit the crime
Human rights
Right and wrong are universal principles and society exists to provide benefits to individuals
Due process
Innocent until proven guilty, right to a fair trial
Voluntary false confession
Personally motivated. Example: They may want to protect the real criminal
Coercied-Complaint false confession
Occur in response to pressure. An example might be after a 12 hour interrogation and the individual just wants it to stop
Coerced-Internalised
When someone comes to believe they have actually committed the crime. Example: An individual mistrusts their own memory due to intoxication
What is police bias and how might it develop? What is one way we can overcome police bias?
Results from social processes (interactions with certain groups) and cognitive processes (development of cognitive schema). Community policing may improve interactions with community.
Interrogation techniques used by police
- Appeals
- Intimidation
- Manipulation
- Leading questions
- Robust challenge (direct challenges that the suspect is lying)
- Soft challenge (soft, friendlier tone)
Define behavioural evidence analysis (BEA) and describe each state of BEA.
A deductive approach alternative to FBI Profiling. Equivocal Forensic Analysis Victimology Crime Scene Characteristics and Offender Characteristics
Organised serial killers
Sexually competent Lives with partner Has charm May move body Police 'groupie'/follower
Disorganised serial killers
Low intelligence Unskilled Lives alone Poor personal hygiene May turn religious May change job
What is the cognitive load theory of lying and how can we use this to catch liars?
Cognitive load theory tells us that lying is more cognitively demanding than telling the truth and we can observe body language language to detect lying.
We can catch liars by increasing cognitive demand, such as through strategic questioning techniques: polygraph, controlled questions, relevant/irrelevant questions
The Hare Psychopathy Checklist lists 20 personality traits which are characteristic of psychopaths. These traits are grouped under four factors (e.g. affective). List each of the four factors and give an example of a trait which falls under each.
Interpersonal: Superficial charm
Affective: Lack of remorse or guilt
Lifestyle: Irresponsibility
Antisocial: Juvenile delinquency
What are the 3 types of Hedonistic killers?
Lust-orientated
Thrill
Comfort/gain
Describe three key issues (e.g., definitions of mental illness) that affect the investigation of the link between mental illness and crime.
How to define mental illness Effects of medication The clinical sample problem Misclassification of the mentally ill and violent General social trends
2 factors that can affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
Memory reconstruction (fragments of what people saw are pieced together like a puzzle in their minds as they recall memories. Consequently, questioning and discussing an event may alter people’s memories, or their perceptions of what they saw) Lineup issues (f the proper procedures are not followed, however, law enforcement officers may unintentionally indicate to witnesses who they should choose. For example, if the photographs used are different sizes or have different lighting, it may cause one person’s picture to stand out over the others)
3 ways in which we could improve the validity of the lineup
Giving the eyewitness a shorter time period to decide (10-12 seconds)
Asking them rate their confidence of their identification.
Reminding the eyewitness that they do not have to choose
Identify the main expert witness arguments used by the defence, and the main arguments used by the prosecution, in the case of Jeffrey Dahmer. What was the verdict?
Jeffrey Dahmer pleaded insane in his case
Describe McNaugten’s Rule. What law was created after McNaugten’s Rule?
There is a presumption, that the defendant is sane, and that they are responsible for their criminal acts. At the time of the crime, the defendant must have been suffering from a “disease of the mind.”
The American Psychiatric Association offered the Bonnie Rule: as a result of mental disease or defect he was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offence.
List and briefly describe the five Australian rules of expert evidence testimony.
The Expertise rule The Field of Expertise rule The Common knowledge rule The Basis rule The Ultimate issue rule
factors which can impact the perceived credibility of expert witness testimony
Juror individual difference factors
what is Voir dire?
the process of jury selection
Name extra-legal factors that affect jury decision making.
1) Pre-trial publicity
2) Characteristics of the defendant
3) Minority influence
Describe two ways in which pre-trial publicity can have an effect on jury decision making.
- Can include facts about the crime such as factual details of the defendants past offences of emotional details such as opinions
- impact the threshold of the evidence required, belief in the guilt of the defendant, and the influence of jury members on one another
Describe one strategy a lawyer can use to increase the persuasiveness of their argument, and one strategy a lawyer can use to manipulate the perceived credibility of the witness.
- increasing the perception of their trustworthiness, their likability, and their status.
- definitional tactics, inferential tactics, and validation tactics
Two key features of the adversarial legal system, and two key features of the inquisitorial legal system
Adversarial:
- The criminal defendant is not required to testify
- The judge does not actively steer questioning
Inquisitorial:
- primary objective is achieving the truth with the rights of the individual secondary
- the judge can be involved from the early stages of the police investigation
Two key theories have been proposed in an attempt to explain violence in a prison context. Compare the key features of deprivation theory and importation theory.
In the Deprivation theory, the prison provides degrading and stigmatising conditions, and there is a prison code of violence; whereas in the Importation theory, prison is an open system, and does not involve the notion of a violent prison subculture but the importation of attitudes, values and motivations from outside prison.
According to cognitive theory, what is the cause of our fear of crime?
- subjective victimisation risk
- Perceived negative impact
what 3 factors influence the decision to report crime?
Cost, Affect and Social processes
What are the three main ways in which our perception of crime may be influenced?
- direct knowledge
- mass media
- individual differences
